Asus has a well established name in motherboards for both Intel and AMD platforms. The Asus P5W DH Deluxe board has been on the market for quite a while and we finally had the opportunity to test and compared it with other, latest release Asus boards for the Core2Duo platform. So how does the "older" Asus P5W DH Deluxe stack up against the newer P5B Deluxe and P5W64WS Pro motherboards? Let's find out...

- Asus P5W DH Deluxe

The Asus P5WDH Deluxe is based on Intel's 975 chipset, which supports Intel®Core™2Extreme, Core™2Duo, Pentium®4EE, Pentium®D, Pentium®4, CeleronD processors for Socket LGA775. It features 1066/800/533MHz FSB, dual-channel un-buffered DDR2 667/533/400 x 4DIMMs up to a maximum of 4GB.

- Features

The idea of the digital home has gained great momentum and is a great influence on the PC industry. To enjoy the full benefits of digital entertainment, you need an ASUS Digital Home series motherboard, a system that is designed solely for this purpose. The ASUS Digital Home series motherboard enables users to control the computer from a distance, setup a wireless network and take advantage of the wireless Skype phone, charge mobile devices even when the PC is turned off, and backup the database automatically. Enjoy the comforts of the digital home you deserve.

The ASUS P5W DH Deluxe is specially designed for Gamers, Personal Workstation, SoHo, high-end and multi-tasking PC users. The Intel 975X is Intel's most high-end desktop chipset, designed to support Intel's next generation CPU, ATI CrossFire Graphics, with a maximum 8GB dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533 architecture, 1066/800 FSB (front-side-bus). Easily build an entertainment PC or create a multimedia environment with its exceptionally high bandwidth. Together with the Serial ATA ports enabled through the SATA 3Gb/s RAID controller integrated in the ICH7R Southbridge, the Intel 975X satisfies multi-task processing and data security.

LGA775 Intel® Quad-core Processor Ready
This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Quad-core processors in LGA775 package.
It's excellent for multi-tasking, multi-media and enthusiastic gamers with 1066/800 MHz FSB.
Intel® Quad-core is one of the most powerful CPU in the world.

Intel 975X chipset
The Intel 975X is the latest chipset designed to support Dual PCI Express graphics, along with the maximum 8GB dual-channel DDR2 667/533 architecture, 1066/800 FSB (front-side-bus), and Dual-core CPU. Easily build a workstation or create a multimedia environment with its exceptionally high bandwidth. Together with the Serial ATA ports enabled through the SATA 3Gb/s RAID controller integrated in the ICH7R Southbridge, the Intel 975X satisfies multi-task processing and data security.

ATI CrossFire Technology
ATI's CrossFire boosts image quality along with rendering speed, eliminating the need to crank down screen resolutions to get the high image quality you want. CrossFire ignites with the higher antialiasing, anisotropic filtering, shading, and texture settings you desire.

No driver, no configuration, just plug and play RAID to backup your data instantaneously. Exclusive to ASUS EZ-Backup™, users can utilize SATA2 technology to arrange RAID1 (default) or RAID0 system without BIOS or any other setup. EZ-Backup™ is ideal for anyone who wishes to secure the data on the hard-drive but doesn't want the hassle of complicated software configuration. EZ-Backup™ looks after your data for you.

Introducing DH Remote™, a convenient PC remote controller that gives users unprecedented control over their PCs from the comfort of their couches. With the touch of a button, users can quickly power their PCs on/off, put the computer into suspend mode, and turn the computer noise down.

Moreover, revolutionary ASUS technology allows users to run wireless devices such as Skype and wireless AP while the computer is still sleeping. Of course the remote gives you all of the features of a more traditional remote as well, such as volume control, play, pause, fast-forward or rewind. Users can also customize the buttons to suit specific needs. Have DH Remote™ in your hand and do more with your PC at a distance away!

ASUS WiFi-AP Solo
Why buy wireless AP off the store when you can have it on board?

WiFi AP Solo allows a new level of versatility for your PC, enabling it to create a complete wireless home network in either AP or wireless client mode. Users will be able to play LAN games, connect to the Internet, access and share printers, and use Skype from anywhere within range. WiFi-AP Solo can provide these functions even when the PC is in sleep mode, so users can use Skype as a true replacement for tradition long distance telephone service. WiFi-AP Solo is an on-board feature, which means that user will save the extra WiFi AP cost.

ASUS MP3-In™ Turn your mp3 player into a stereo system!

You can turn off your PC, and still use your computer speakers for any of your portable music players. Better sound quality without further stereo equipment cost.

ASUS Q-Connector

The ASUS Q-Connector allows you to connect or disconnect chassis front panel cables in one easy step with one complete module. This unique adapter eliminates the trouble of plugging in one cable at a time, making connection quick and accurate.

ASUS has devoted special efforts to address the thermal issues across the motherboard, and most notably the areas that reside the CPU, power, VGA, Northbridge and Southbridge.

Stack Cool 2

Stack Cool 2 is a fan-less and zero-noise cooling solution offered exclusively by ASUS. It effectively transfers heat generated by the critical components to the other side of the specially designed PCB (printed circuit board) for effective heat dissipation.

8 Phase Power Design

ASUS 8-Phase Power Design keeps CPU and power module away from suffering risk of high power stress, which makes CPU lifetime much longer and system more stable. Furthermore, It provides high efficiency operation to generate less heat than conventional power solutions and consequently achieve cool system environment. With this strong power pump, this motherboard is made for overclocking.

Fanless Design: Heat-pipe Thermal solution

Cooling fans, though a popular thermal solution, also come with noise and malfunction likelihood. ASUS Motherboard's fanless concept is specifically created to provide a cool environment without all the baggage.
The heat pipe, heat sinks and strategic board layout were tailor made to dissipate heat in the most efficient manner.

To attain top performance, ASUS engineers successfully unleashed the true potential of DDR2 memory. Native DDR2 800 maximizes system performance by eliminating the bottleneck when overclocking both the CPU and memory, providing great performance for 3D graphics and other memory demanding applications.

ASUS Hyper Path3

Data transfers within the system are made possible by various mechanisms that synchronize the sending and receiving of commends among components. Unfortunately, these mechanisms cause data transfer delays known as latency time. This unique feature significantly shortens latency time during data transfers, allowing users to experience the real power of their computers.

AI NOS™ Applications such as 3D games and video editing demand a huge chunk of system resource.

PEG Link allows users to raise GPU and VGA memory throughput via the motherboard BIOS the same way system bus and memory bus are tweaked. PEG Link Mode enables powerful video performance on DX8 and DX9 applications. ASUS engineers carefully fine-tuned the parameters for every single PCI-Express card to provide system stability during high-speed graphics operation.

Precision Tweaker Precision Tweaker is designed for serious overclockers. It offers ways to raise system performance inch-by-inch and step-by-step to achieve maximum performance! This is about getting the most out of your machine, and taking pride in your customized computer. Precision Tweaker provides overclocking options for all major parts of the system: CPU, Memory, PCI-Express, and Front Side Bus.

vDIMM
Take control of how much power is going into the memory modules. ASUS gives you 12-step voltage control to the DIMM vCore
Find out "exactly" how much power your CPU needs. Fine-tune it with 0.0125 volts at a time! PCI-Express x16 Frequency
Explore the frequency options of your PCI-Express x16 graphics card SFS
SFS (Stepless Frequency Selection) allows FSB tuning from 200MHz up to 400MHz at 1MHz increments.

EZ Flash 2 is a user-friendly BIOS update utility. Simply press the predefined hotkey to launch the utility and update the BIOS without entering the OS. Update your BIOS easily without preparing a bootable diskette or using an OS-based flash utility.

The integrated dual Gigabit LAN design allows a PC to serve as a network gateway for managing traffic between two separate networks. This capability ensures rapid transfer of data from WAN to LAN without any added arbitration or latency. No more bottleneck to handle large amounts of data such as video, audio, and voice.